


three is a crowd

by exarite



Category: Naruto
Genre: Exhibitionism, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/M, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 05:18:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14826039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exarite/pseuds/exarite
Summary: There's no real time and place to pinpoint how exactly the three of them began, and so all they have is this: moments in time, steps in place for the three of them to fall together.ShikaSakuNeji





	three is a crowd

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theformerone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theformerone/gifts).



> THIS IS LIKE ALMOST A MONTH LATE IM SORRY BUT this is for the shikasakuneji exchange!! theformerone wanted a prequel to my other shikasakuneji fic [Compersion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13998699)

This is how it starts:

It's been months since the War and Hyuuga Neji opens his eyes for the first time.

No--wait,  _this_ is how it starts:

Hyuuga Neji is bleeding out, a huge spike through him, but it's fine, it's worth it. Naruto cradles him in his arms and Neji lets himself smile. He's always had feelings for Naruto, ever since the Chuunin exams, and he thought that he had put it behind him but apparently not. He's dying, he knows he is, and vaguely, he can hear Naruto shout and scream for a medic.

A firm hand touches his shoulder and he's pulled away from Naruto. Neji's eyes slowly slip closed, and the last thing he sees is pink and green before warmth fills his insides.

"You'll be fine, Neji," a familiar voice murmurs. "I'm here. You'll be fine." Neji trusts these impossible words. Somehow, he does. He lets himself relax.

Six months later, he opens his eyes and everything is white. His first thought is that he's dead and that he's in the Pure Lands, but there's a distinctly uncomfortable feeling that he can't quite pinpoint before he resigns himself to the fact that maybe his whole body is just uncomfortable.

The door opens, and that same shade of pink from before he had passed out is back. He blinks. Haruno Sakura. He should have known. Who else would it have been?

"You're awake," Sakura breathes and then beams at him. Neji feels his heart stutter at the beautiful smile. Oh no. He fell in love with Naruto because the idiot changed his life and saved him from his hatred, and he does not have the time to fall in love with Naruto's friend just because she saved his life too.

Unfortunately, that isn't quite up for him to decide.

His recovery is slow and it takes about the same amount of time he spent in a coma, but in contrast, his feelings for Sakura come swift and fast. He feels like he's drowning. Every time he sees her, every time she shows up to give him a checkup or to assist he feels like he's breathing again, and it takes everything in him not to ask her to stay. It's dumb, that's what it is. She saved his life but he's just one life out of many to her and it doesn't matter how fast he finds himself head over heels for her.

It doesn't help that throughout his whole recovery--not to be a ninja, unfortunately, the damage was too great for him to be able to be a proper mission ninja again but at least he's alive--Sakura is always there.

Through the gaggle of neverending visitors that pass through his hospital room, all of them happy that he's alive and awake, Sakura is there.

His physical therapy for relearning how to walk is slow and tedious as well, but still, Sakura is there, ever patient and kind, and it gives him the excuse to lean a little on her as they walk around the little garden in the hospital.

And when Neji can finally walk a few blocks by himself without much aid, Sakura is there too to celebrate and push him even further.

He's filled with the high of independence, he takes his little victories where he can, and so it seems like a good idea to ask her out on a date.

"Not here in the hospital of course," he clarifies a little awkwardly.

Sakura blinks at him and then beams brightly, her green eyes sparkling.

"Sure," she laughs, and the sound of it goes straight to his heart. Oh no. Neji gives her a small, helpless, flustered smile back.

*

This is how it starts:

Temari and he are on a break, and a part of him thinks that maybe this time it's for real. It feels like it anyway, and they haven't made contact in awhile now.

He's looking at Kakashi's half-assed budget reports and comparing it to expense reports from the hospital when Sakura slides over a cup of tea to his side, just the way he likes it. One thing leads to another and then next thing Shikamaru knows is that they're kissing and that he has Sakura spread out over his table, papers on the floor all around them, miles of endless skin and curves.

Or, well, maybe--

Temari and he are still very much together, but the way Sakura's eyes light up as she figures out the answer to the puzzle they've been looking over is beautiful and Shikamaru feels his breath catch as she jumps out of her seat and then presses up close to him to point at a clue he's somehow, stupidly missed, the scent of her strong in his nose. (He was looking at her, that's all, a simple distraction.)

He looks down at her and he wants to kiss her, but he doesn't.

But there's also--

Ino and Sakura have just declared themselves enemies and suddenly, Sakura doesn't hang out with the three of them anymore. Shikamaru finds himself missing her, just a little bit, and doesn't quite understand why.

See, Shikamaru can't help but think of every little thing that has led to this. When did this thing between them ever really start? When did he start to notice and develop feelings for her? He's never really thought about it until he's had to, and right now, he's pretty much forced to think about it. His brain can't help but try to connect the dots of their story, but the picture doesn't add up, doesn't finish, forever incomplete and it's his fault.

After their one night together, Temari finally contacted him again and--she's comfortable. Temari's comfortable, and Shikamaru is happy with comfortable, and so he falls back into his relationship with her as if they never ever stopped.

Now, he and Temari are done for real, no takesies backsies, but it's just a little too late because Neji and Sakura are very much an exclusive item already. He's lost his chance with her and he's just a little bit bitter because even if he didn't want to admit it, a part of him has always liked her. It was a slow and steady burn, and by that point, it was bright enough to fill him with need and the realization that he wanted her, it was too late.

Unfortunately, there's nothing to be done, and so Shikamaru picks himself back up and tells himself to move on.

*

This is how it starts:

They're celebrating Naruto finally making Chuunin and Sakura's drank just a little too much, pressing up close to his side and sneaking tiny, little kisses on the underside of his jaw and his cheek and his shoulders, rubbing her face on the cloth of his shirt.

Shikamaru is watching them.

No--this is how it starts:

Neji isn't quite sure what it is that Shikamaru has against him, but he's mature enough not to call the other man out on it. They're working together, Shikamaru as the Hokage's Assistant and Neji as the Jounin Commander. It's a desk job, really, nothing like how Shikamaru's dad was as the Jounin Commander in his day, but it's still very much necessary.

The tension between them is charged, and it only shifts when Sakura comes in to pick up the bento she had left in his office the other day that he had taken care to bring with him to his meeting with Shikamaru. It doesn't leave, no, only changes as Shikamaru and Sakura lock eyes for a moment, and then Shikamaru's gaze slides significantly over his desk in a motion that sends Sakura's face heating up bright red.

Neji tenses.

The moment breaks and Sakura looks away to give him a bright, shy smile, just leaning a little bit on awkward.

It's the start of his suspicion.

Not of Sakura, no, he doesn't doubt her loyalty. But the Hyuuga are renowned for their sight and Neji doesn't miss the way Shikamaru watches her, the way Shikamaru watches them when he thinks they aren't looking.

Neji catches him sometimes and their eyes always meet in an electrifying sizzle. Shikamaru's eyes are always half-lidded, always in a mask of disinterest and a lack of care, but Neji can see the fire in them.

He's not usually an idiot, but the fire is burning up in him too and he can't help but start to show off. Every time he catches Shikamaru watching the two of them, he tilts Sakura's head just a little bit more, kisses her a little deeper than he normally would in polite company, lets his hands stray nowhere indecent, but definitely a tease towards it. And always, always, Shikamaru is watching them from the corner of his eye.

Neji finds that he likes it. He likes being watched, likes being watched with Sakura. They're both beautiful people and he doesn't blame Shikamaru.

And so when Naruto's Chuunin celebration comes and Neji and Sakura both get a little too drunk, bit by bit of Neji's cool exterior falls away until he's just the dumb dork he has to be in a team with Gai and Lee, and by extension TenTen too.

He gets dumb when he drinks and so he doesn't do it often, he has to keep a semblance of his dignity after all. Hyuuga scion and all that. But Sakura? Sakura is a horny, flirty drunk, and Neji is finding it hard to find reasons to keep pushing her away from sitting herself on his lap.

He lets himself have one kiss that turns into three until suddenly, Sakura's legs are on either side of his hips and her tongue is in his mouth and her hands are running through his long hair. He groans appreciatively and shifts slightly to press their bodies together, Sakura gasping into his mouth as her hips buck and she grinds against him.

The whole time, Neji can feel Shikamaru watching them from across the room, and just the thought of it gets his dick even harder.

"Get a room!" Naruto yells, and both he and Sakura break apart, flushed and panting slightly. Their friends titter and laugh but for once, Neji doesn't care.

"Such a beautiful expression of love!" Lee fawns and Neji's eye twitches. Sakura scrambles off him and Neji automatically reaches out to steady her. Sakura giggles.

"Let's go," Sakura says urgently.

They're in the alley near the bar and this is one of the stupidest things Neji has ever done, but every cell in his brain has somehow decided to leave and tell him it's a good idea to let Sakura press him up against the wall.

Sakura drops to her knees, and maybe they shouldn't be doing this somewhere so public but then his dick is in her mouth, all glorious wet heat, and Neji can only groan appreciatively and tip his head back on the wall. There's a flicker of motion at the end of the alley and Neji glances. He freezes at the sight of Shikamaru staring at them in shock, cigarette in hand burning steadily.

They make eye contact. Sakura's slick hand catches at the head of his cock and Neji groans, his hand coming up to grip at the back of her head and his fingers slipping through her hair. He should tell her to stop. She must not have noticed Shikamaru. The right thing to do would be to pull her off and to make their retreat back to her apartment or his place in the Hyuuga estate.

But then he meets Shikamaru's eyes again and the lust burning in the other man's eyes and Neji does nothing. Sakura moans around his dick in her mouth, the sound of it jarringly loud and erotic. When he finishes in Sakura's mouth he closes his eyes just for a second, and when he opens them again, Shikamaru is gone.

Sakura stands up shakily and presses her face on his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck.

"Do you think he liked the show?" she breathes.

*

This is how it starts:

Sakura and Neji are naked, bodies pressed up and sliding against each other in a practiced dance. They look good together, she knows this, and from the corner, Shikamaru watches.

But well--this is how it really starts:

Sakura has always been a little bold and a little rash. She doesn't throw herself headfirst into situations like Naruto, nor does she… do whatever it is Sasuke does, but she's had to grow and adapt and keep up with her dumb boys and so she tends to just go for things and hope for the best.

Her eyes might not be as good as Neji and she might not be as smart as Shikamaru, but she notices. She sees the way Shikamaru looks at them and she sees the way Neji looks back. She knows that both of them aren't even aware that they stare at each other even when she isn't in the picture, and that there's an attraction there both of them either haven't noticed or have denied.

And so she manages the situation herself.

And so after she sucks Neji off in an alleyway, she asks Neji outright how he'd feel if Shikamaru joined them. Or watched them.

Surprisingly, Neji says yes.

Sakura is the one to ask and Shikamaru stares at her for seconds that seem to drag on for forever. Sakura begins to think that maybe this is a dumb idea and thinks frantically of a way to save the situation. Shikamaru takes in a deep breath and--

Surprisingly, Shikamaru says yes too.

They invite him into Sakura's apartment and Sakura thinks that Shikamaru is content with just watching, not wanting to intrude, but Sakura makes sure to let him know that he's welcome to join in any time he wants. Shikamaru only nods and seats himself on the chair beside the bed.

There's an awkward silence where Neji and Sakura just look at each other, a little embarrassed. It's odd. She's sucked his dick in front of Shikamaru already, but actually having Shikamaru in her bedroom waiting for them to get it on is just so damn weird and uncomfortable.

Neji takes in a deep breath and then bends down to press his lips to hers in a chaste kiss.

"Okay?" he asks after he pulls away and Sakura nods.

Their lips meet again, slower this time and much more sensual. It's easier after that to get into the rhythm of things, their bodies used to each other. Neji knows just how to touch and make her feel good, and she doesn't forget that Shikamaru is there, but… it's in the background of her mind.

Neji strips her out of her clothes and she does the same for him before they end up on the bed, Sakura underneath his strong body. You'd expect Neji's body to be soft as desk ninja, but it's not. Even if Neji can't perform the Jyuken as well as he used to be able to before he almost died, he still keeps himself relatively fit and ready to fight.

She's getting into it when she hears Shikamaru stand up and make his way to the side of the bed. She pulls away from Neji's neck and looks up at him.

"Hi," she says, and then promptly winces. Shikamaru's lips twitch in amusement. "Hi," he replies.

"Okay, let's adjust," Neji says slowly. They sit up, all of them looking at each other in confusion. What are they supposed to do? Sakura's never been in a threesome before, those rumors about her, Naruto, and Sasuke aren't true, really.

Shikamaru makes a half-aborted motion to slip in behind her and she and Neji wiggle around a bit as they scoot down the bed to make room for him.

"Okay," Sakura says. She shifts back and presses into the warmth of Shikamaru behind her, memories of his chest on her back as he fucked her into his desk running through her mind. She flushes.

"Okay," she repeats. "Let's do this, I guess."

Neji nods stiffly, and oh, he's always been a little too high strung but Sakura loves breaking him down. She leans forward to press their lips together once more and with only a moment's hesitation, she grabs Shikamaru's hand and makes him touch her breast.

It's the only encouragement he needs. She feels like he doesn't quite know where to put his hands, but they feel great on her body and so she lets him be. Neji and Sakura make out for a bit, Shikamaru's lips cool on her bare neck as they kiss and bite. She takes in a deep breath and pulls away from Neji before nudging Shikamaru and then pressing her lips to his. They kiss easily, Shikamaru's lips slow and lazy but delightful against hers.

"Oh," Neji murmurs, a little to himself. He moves in closer towards them, his knee knocking against Shikamaru's leg and Shikamaru winces.

"Sorry," Neji apologizes belatedly, a short burst of almost hysterical laughter escaping him. "There are too many legs."

Sakura laughs. She glances at the two of them and then smiles. "Your turn," she says and motions between them. Neji and Shikamaru blink at her and then blink at each other. There's an embarrassed flush on Shikamaru's cheeks but Neji looks interested.

Slowly, they lean in. Sakura wiggles away, a little uncomfortable with how much skin there is everywhere and it's really kind of hot in the sense that she's sweating a bit from the body heat.

The press of their lips against each other is tentative, sweet almost, and Sakura knows that Neji has kissed other men before but she's starting to think that Shikamaru has only been with women. Sakura moves to get a better view and Neji pulls away like he's been burned, yelping slightly as Sakura accidentally sits on his ankle.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Sakura apologizes, wincing in embarrassment. She covers her face and laughs. "You're right, there are too many legs."

The weird tension that Sakura hadn't even noticed disappears and they all chuckle. Sakura presses herself back into the fold and their bodies move together.

*

This is how it starts:

"Well that was kinda awkward," Sakura says to herself. She's pretty sure she has a bruise somewhere from accidentally being kicked, and her scalp hurts from where Neji accidentally pulled her hair a little too hard. Beside her, Neji nods.

"We should try again," Shikamaru muses.

Neji and Sakura glance at each other, and wordlessly, they turn back to face Shikamaru. 

"Actually," Sakura starts, smiling at him.

"We should date," Neji says simply.

**Author's Note:**

> anyway! check out the other fics for this exchange at amako and theformerone's profiles!!
> 
> i am on [tumblr!](senju-sandwich.tumblr.com)


End file.
